Each year, CAP recognizes outstanding high school and CEGEP physics teachers from five regions across Canada. The awards celebrate their commitment to motivating students, developing innovative teaching methods, mentoring both students and new physics teachers, and fostering science-related extra-curricular activities.

“We’re thrilled to see both Dave and Jason recognized for their tireless efforts to educate Canadian youth,” said Perimeter Educational Outreach Coordinator Laura Flatt. “They’ve made major contributions in their classrooms and both have been pillars of Perimeter’s Teacher Network. They’ve provided invaluable input to our educational resources and worked with their peers across Canada to improve the way modern physics is taught in this country.”

Doucette teaches at Richmond Hill High School and won for the Ontario region. He has given hundreds of workshops throughout the Greater Toronto Area, helped double conference attendance for the annual meeting of the Ontario Association of Physics Teachers, and led in the development of a summer camp for teachers. The award citation noted, “He is not just a great physics teacher – he is a great teacher of physics teachers. His enthusiasm is inspirational, his knowledge profound, and his generosity greatly appreciated.”

Jennings, who teaches at Sackville High School in Nova Scotia, won for the Atlantic region. The CAP award committee commended Jennings for his participation in Perimeter’s EinsteinPlus workshops, his efforts to provide substantive enrichment opportunities to his students, and his work with his peers to bring more modern physics into the classroom.

Each winner received an educational grant to support professional development or purchase classroom resources. Jennings also won a trip to Geneva, Switzerland to participate in a three-week physics teachers’ symposium at CERN.

Since 1945, the Canadian Association of Physicists (CAP) has sought to highlight achievements in Canadian physics and to pursue scientific, educational, public policy, and communication initiatives that enhance the vitality of the discipline. CAP activities help to inform members of developments in their field and raise awareness of physics among the youth of Canada, tomorrow’s physicists. CAP activities also facilitate communication with the public and with those who make funding and policy decisions that affect the profession. Membership in the CAP supports the advancement of Canadian physics. http://www.cap.ca/en/home

About Perimeter Institute

Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics is an independent, non-profit, scientific research organization working to advance our understanding of physical laws and develop new ideas about the very essence of space, time, matter, and information. Located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, Perimeter also provides a wide array of research training and educational outreach activities to nurture scientific talent and share the importance of discovery and innovation among students, teachers, and the general public. In partnership with the Governments of Ontario and Canada, Perimeter is a successful example of public-private collaboration in scientific research, training, and outreach. http://www.perimeterinstitute.ca/